01 december 2004
Hauoli Lahanau
On your birthday, may you reap life's greatest blessings. Celebrate
life!
Traffic Jam
I was stuck in a traffic jam on my way to work this morning.
There was a fatal traffic accident near my workplace and police have cordoned
the area from traffic. Traffic flow was at snail pace just like in Manila.
I was able to read pages of the book Bakit Baliktad Magbasa ang mga
Pilipino? I love this book where it reminds the Filipinos' uniqueness
as a culture. I realized I wasn't stucked in Manila's traffic jam, I was
here on Maui on my daily commute to work where it usually took forty five
minutes. Today, it took me two hours and thirty minutes. Welcome to Manila!
02 december 2004
Fictional Character
"You don't want to slander anybody. You don't want to put them in
a situation patently untrue. But once you have the basic ground rules
of what your understanding is of how they are in real life, you have to
treat them as a fictional character. Otherwise it is just going to be
a reenactment." – The Life and Death of Peter Sellers'
Christopher Markus on penning biopics
03 december 2004
Missed a Party
I wasn't able to go to our company party due to a raging brushfire in
the West Maui mountains and the road was blocked for a few hours. I was
all ready to dress up in my Barong Tagalog and head out to the Westin
but the fire prevented me from going. Oh well!
07 December 2004
Life of a Fish
It's hard to lose a pet fish. Pupa died in his tank due to overfeeding
along with another fish, the last of the Three Stoogies. Muma was left
behind. She almost died but her will to live kept her alive. Perhaps she
was not that hungry at that time. She has to keep her shape and be alluring
to Pupa. Now Pupa's gone, she's now a widow. I hope I can find a mate
for her and will name him Pupatto.
10 December 2004
Ship Crew?
I was at Burger King last night talking story with my friend.
When we were leaving the premises one 'kababayan' who was working there
was curious and asked us if were crew members of the cruise ship that
was docked at the Kahului Harbor. I was kinda startled. And the guy also
asked if we know places in Manila. I guess he overheard us talking in
Pilipino and his usisero instinct kicked in. Yeah! That's right!
Anyway, he must be fresh from the plane and trying to fit in the island
culture. At least, there are true blue Pinoys around and he didn't feel
alienated. My advise, "Graze on the green pasture until you're teeming
with milk and honey. Learn to remember where you came from."
18 December 2004
Life Outdoors
I've spent the day with my beautiful little niece at the Kalama
Beach Park in Kihei with the crew of the 7-11 convenience store from Kahului.
My grandaunt works for 7-11 and they were having their Christmas party.
I was invited in and joined in the fun. Life outdoors is different. I
can see it has the colors of life.
19 December 2004
Coincidences
Strange coincidences may be the normal workings of the universe.
- Daily meditation
20 December 2004
The Most Important Thing I Do
"[Writing is] the most important thing I do, and the thing
that, on a day-to-day basis, can get shoved out of the way, disturbingly,
by all of the administrative responsibilities. That's the real struggle,
actually. Fortunately, the last couple years I've been able to write quite
a bit, which is my first love and what I really enjoy doing. And it's
the hardest thing I do." – John Wells
22 December 2004
Paalam FPJ!
Isa kang tunay na bayani, uliran sa mga mamamayang Pilipino.
Ang maaga mong pagpanaw ay naging isang puwang sa puso at kaluluwa ng
mga Pilipino. Binigyan mo sila ng diwa sa bawat sulok ng lipunan sa pamamagitan
ng mga likhang sining mo sa takilya. Ngayong wala ka na, ang alaala mo
ang magsisilbing sigaw ng di mo natapos na pakikibaka. Paalam Ka Ronnie!
25 December 2004
Ang Paskong Ninakaw ang Kinang (Fiction)
Pamaskong handog ng the Grinch. (Itutuloy po...may writer's block
ako ngayon!)
26 December 2004
Tsunami Strucks South Asia Kills Thousands
One of the deadliest tsunamis in history hit South Asia. An earthquake
with a magnitude of 9.0 in the Richter scale off the coast of Indonesia
triggered a tsunami with a speed of 500 mph and struck low lying coastal
cities and villages of countries surrounding the Indian Ocean. Worst hit
was the island nation of Sri Lanka where majority of the casualties are.
Other countries that were in the path of the tsunami are India, Thailand,
Malaysia, Maldives and other coastal nations in Africa. Part of the fault
of the astronomical casualties of this disaster is the lack of warning
systems in the Indian Ocean where people could have been warned of an
impending tsunami.
I am saddened by the loss of lives who at that time are doing their daily chores and others are enjoying the beautiful beaches. Life is so fragile and it can be taken away in an instance. Live to the fullest!
28 December 2004
When All Else Fails
Sometimes we don't accept failures but in failing we learn not
to fail again.
30 December 2004
Jose Rizal
Isa ka bang uliran sa mga Pilipino? Ginugunita ang pagkabayani
mo taun-taon.
31 December 2004
Con Te Partiro 2004!
Ang pamamaalam sa taong 2004. Nagpapasalamat ako sa Poong Maykapal
sa kanyang pagkalinga sa akin dahil ako ay kanyang binigyan ng buhay para
magampanan ang itinadhanang adhikain. Salamat din sa mga taong nakapaikot
sa bilog ng buhay ko. Sila ang mga nagbigay ng inspirasyon upang makarating
ako sa aking paroroonan. Maraming pagsubok ang aking nakatunggali at sila
ang nagbigay sa akin ng lakas para makipagsapalaran sa buhay.
The Beauty of Life
by J.Q. Gonzales
It is the breath that lives within us,
It is the light that gives us the way out of darkness,
It is the hope that makes everyday worth living.